Decoded
by YoungTakinom
Summary: Van Bloot was transported to the future and is trying to get back to the past before he gets caught. The only way to get back is to reconstruct Dranikus Threshold, and all of Perim wants to get their hands on him. But his new allies aren't as submissive as their parents were, even if they are much more useful, and the new leaders of the tribes are not as tolerant as Chaor was.
1. Chapter 1

I know I already have a story involving Van Bloot after the destruction of the Threshold, but this is a completely different story, although it will have a few similarities.

I'll probably change the name of this story was soon as I come up with a better one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chaotic

"Port out!" Sarah screamed as the beam of mugical energy fell towards the floating landscape.

All the humans ported away, but Van Bloot didn't have that option. Instead he faced the music as Dranikus Threshold pulled him in. What happened next was a difficult feeling for him. He knew he was traveling through time, but he could also feel the location being destroyed as it transported him to an unknown generation. He knew he was traveling quickly, but he felt like time was slowing down.

The winged creature blacked out before he could figure out what direction he was going in.

"Hey, creature, you're in my way." a voice said. Van Bloot was too out of it to even know if the voice was make or female, but the fact that he had been called 'creature' suggested that whoever it was must have been a human being. What the voice said next got his attention "You better get out of this water. You don't want a M'errilian to get you, do you?"

That woke Van Bloot up enough to realise that he was indeed in shallow water. While sniffing the air to try to detect any potential dangers, he tried to oped his eyes and sit up. His head spun has he tried to sit up. His vision was to blurry for him to see anything. He closed his eyes and put a hand on his head.

He sniffed the air again, hoping to smell something recognizable. There were sweet plants of some sort, but he could not recognize the the scent. There were also a few creatures nearby and the strong scent of a human. Being unable to recognize the sweet scent of the plants but knowing for a fact that he was not smelling flowers, Van Bloot assumed that he had succeeded in traveling back in time and that the sweet smell was from an extinct species of plant.

The rebellious creature grinned as he stood up. He felt as if he had already taken over the world. He opened his eyes again to be fully aware of his surroundings. He was indeed in a small body of water, but he was sure there weren't any M'errilian in the pond. He doubted there had been in a long time, since plants resembling bamboo were growing around it.

But then another thought occured to him: what if he had gone forward in time instead of back in time? There was a possibility that he was in M'errilian territory and even though the creatures his nose could pick up on didn't smell like M'errilians, that didn't mean they weren't enslaved.

Knowing the human could know something, he turned and attempted to grabbed the weakling in an attempt to scare the helpless little thing into telling him everything he wanted to know. But his hand was quickly cut by a sharp machete. It wasn't deep enough of a cut to concern him and knew he could have easily gotten rid of a human, but he froze.

He could not believe what he saw. Maybe it was just everything else sinking in, or maybe he was genuinely concerned by what he saw. He didn't know why it was bothering him so much, but something wasn't right about it. It's not like he didn't see it coming, but he didn't expect to see it so soon.

At that point he knew he was in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

Van Bloot didn't have a hard time guessing who her parents were; she had the same body as her mother, aside from her stomach being a little smaller and her breasts being more noticeable. The fact that her tank top was purple and she was wearing denim shorts didn't make it any more difficult. She also had Krystella's long brunette hair, although she had more curl than her mother did. Her eyes were very similar, but this new female's lids didn't drop as much. She also had much darker skin, but Klay's nose, so Van Bloot assumed that Klay was her father.

She was looking at him as though he had said something stupid, but she didn't focus on him for long. She quickly dashed a few feet to one of the taller plants and sliced it so that it was a bit shorter than her. The top of them never touched the water. She grabbed them before they could and put them in her large pink backpack. She then turned her attention to some other plants and did the same to them.

"You look just like Krystella." Van Bloot said, knowing it would catch her attention

She was about to slice more plants. Her blade was just an inch from one, but it immediately stopped upon hearing what he told her. He couldn't see it from that angle, but her brown eyes widened. But it didn't last long. She soon turned her attention back to whatever she was doing.

"Whoever those belong to must have done something to you." Van Bloot continued as he watched her, admiring how her breast bounced a little every time she ran. "I can destroy them easily. I'm sure you could be of more use to me than your mother was. Perhaps she told you about me. I'm Lord Van Bloot, and I'm going to rule the world." The human didn't respond, and Van Bloot's patience was quickly running out "Are you listening!?"

"Did you say something?" she asked casually "I wasn't listening."

Van Bloot snapped. At least Krystella knew better than to get an attitude with a creature, but this girl's lack of respect was matched with a lack of common sense, and Van Bloot despised both. He lunged forward, expecting to grab the human and dunk her under the water just long enough to drown her.

But she swung her machete just has he leaped, and the creature accidentally went right over her as she bent over to grab the top of the plants. He arose from the water, now infuriated by the human's behavior. Van Bloot reached out to grab her, but she ran to another plant and sliced it.

"Is this a game to you?" Van Bloot said as he walked up to her

"What good is a game if there's no competition?" she asked without thinking as she once again grabbed the plant-tops and shoved them into her bad

Van Bloot grabbed her by the arm before she could run again. "How's this for competition?" he asked as he dunked her underneath the water.

She had just enough sense to cut his arm with her machete. Van Bloot let go, but that didn't mean he was finished with her. She started to get up, but the creature prepared a flame orb. She ducked back under the water just as he threw it at her. Van Bloot managed to get a hold of her ankle and lift her out of the water.

"No fair!" she whined, reminded him of Klay "You cheated!"

"So much for 'no competition'." Van Bloot "Game over."

He was planning on ending her right then and there, but the daughter of Klay and Krystella was not ready to quit fighting. She bent her stomach and swung her machete, slicing his arm a bit deeper than she had his hand. Van Bloot let go of her. It was not a fatal cut, but it was enough to suprise the creature. Acting on mere impulse, the young human grinned as she ran at him and cut his chest. Van Bloot tried to grab her again, but that resulted in another cut to his injured hand.

The human backed up a few feet, never taking her eyes off of him. Van Bloot knew he could have easily gotten rid of her now that she was to far away for her machete to do any good, but he was fond of a female who could put up a fight, especially if she was helpless against him. Once she felt it was safe, she turned and ran.

 _You could be useful to me, human._ Van Bloot thought as he watched her run, admiring how she looked from the back, _But you still have a lot to learn._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Chaotic

Van Bloot watched her from behind the plants. With nowhere to go and no other way to figure out exactly when he was, it didn't Van Bloot long to decide to follow her. Unfortunately for him, she could have ported out at any time. It then occured to him that she may not have had her scanner with her. That would have certainly explained why she was putting the plants in her backpack- she was probably being forced into harvesting the plants for someone.

She was vulnerable, and considering who her parents were, she was probably ready for revenge. Van Bloot was more eager than ever to take over the world, and this human knew more about it than he did. All he had to do was kidnap her, explain the circumstances, and let her lead him to whatever was left of his troops. He could figure out the rest later, but right now he didn't have time to. It was time to put the first part of his plan into action- catching that human.

A vine snare soon wrapped itself around her left leg. The human fell to the ground as Van Bloot began pulling her towards him. She cut the vines with her machete and ran again. She ran through a large group of trees. She was running to the safest place she could think of, but she didn't know what to do after that.

She got to an old house and slammed the door behind her, making sure to lock it. Then she ran to a small bedroom and locked herself in it. But she still knew she wasn't safe. The human could hear Van Bloot's footsteps as he got closer and closer. There was a small window, and she quickly opened it.

Van Bloot heard the sound, and so did she. Krystella's daughter knew enough about creatures to know that if a human could hear something, so could a creature. So instead of trying to escape through the window, she ran into the tiny, little bathroom and hid behind the door.

Van Bloot didn't catch her on that try. Upon breaking down the bedroom door and seeing the window open, he wasted no time in running through the wall. The human female bit her bottom lip in an attempt to reminded herself not to whimper, scream, or hyperventilate.

The sound him breaking through the wood caught the attention of some nearby creatures. Knowing where it must have been coming from, they ran to the old building as fast as they could. Van Bloot was already gone, and the human was sitting on the bathroom floor, knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"What happened, Dust?" a female creature asked her as soon as she saw the human in the bathroom

"Van Bloot."

"Are you sure it was the real Van Bloot?" the creature asked. She looked very much like a blond mouse in a short purple dress and knee-length tights. She looked like she was a little younger than the human, but she was clearly at least in her mid-teens. "He disappeared before you were even born!"

"I know what I saw!" the human female got louder as she stood up. She was still afraid of what had just happened, and her creature friend knew it. "He told me what his name was!"

The creatures didn't take her seriously. They assured her that it was not the real Van Bloot and that someone was just playing a prank on her. Some of the older ones warned her to get back to work before the real Van Bloot really did come to take her away.

"That was the real Van Bloot!" she screamed as they walked away "We are all in danger!"

Unfortunately for the residents of that building, Van Bloot also heard her. He was hiding in the trees she had ran through, and he stayed there, waiting for an opportunity to talk with her privately. He watched as the human and the mouse-like creature fixed the wall after the other creatures left to return to work. His patience was wearing thin by the time she had to go back to the pond, but Van Bloot was careful to not be seen until she was distracted by her work.

He watched as she cut a few plants and put them in her backpack. He had already decided that the first thing he was going to have to do was get that machete away from her. He did so by wrapping a vine snare around her arm and giving it a slight tug. The human almost fell over again, but she quickly regained her balance. But Van Bloot got the result he wanted and quickly began to pull her in.

Her screaming got her the attention of the nearby creatures again, but Van Bloot wasn't worried about them. They were too far away to do anything to stop him. By the time they got to the pond, Van Bloot had already knocked out the human and got away with her.

There were mountains in the distance, and Van Bloot could be seen flying towards them. But none of the other creatures could fly. The mouse-like creature blamed herself for not watching over her friend, but it was too late now. All she could do was send a letter to the human's brother and hope he knew what to do. After all, no one else was going to believe Van Bloot carried a naughty person into the mountains; that was just a myth parents told their children to get them to behave.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Chaotic

Van Bloot carried the human over one shoulder for a while, but he eventually decided to carry her bridal style. He was kind enough to bring her machete with them, just in case the human proved useful to him. He knew she would eventually, but the question was how long would it take, and knowing what her parents were like, he would not put it past her to put on an act just to get what she wanted.

 _Who would have thought such hideous parents could produce such a beautiful child._ he thought as he looked down at the human in his arms, wanting to run his fingures across her golden-tan face. He longed to give her a gentle shake, thus waking her up. He wanted to look into those pretty brown eyes and find out her name, but he was not in the mood to deal with a panic attack from some rebellious human.

It was beginning to rain when he found a cave to rest in for the night. He carried the human to the back of the cave and nuzzled her as he laid her on the ground. Van Bloot took her backpack off of her, partially to make her more comfortable, but mostly just because he wanted to see what was inside it.

Aside from the plants she had been cutting, there wasn't much; just some tinted lipbalm and mascara in a small pocket on the right side of the bag. The plants could be used to fuel a fire later on, but they weren't necessary right then, so he put them back in her backpack.

Van Bloot laid down just close enough to her to put the tip of his wings over her. He was not a deep sleeper, so any movement she made would surely wake him up. He faced the entrance to the cave, wanting the first thing he saw in the morning to be the entrance, just in case someone was trying to enter.

But back in the village, not far from where he had met the human, there was more commotion. Word had gotten out that the human female had been captured by a winged creature, and her mouse-like friend was already trying to find someone to send a message to Kiru City.

"I wasn't planning on going there for two more days, but circumstances being what they are..." a male voice trailed off. Whoever it was, he was dressed in Overworld armor, a clear sign that he was part of the Overworld army.

"Must I remind you that this human is considered an Overworlder?" the mouse-like female reminded him

"You know I don't care much for humans, Utlara." the male said her name with obvious dislike "Still, this could be the start of an epidemic. I suppose I have to send word to Ronink in the morning."

"And as for the human's brother?" Utlara worried that the king wouldn't do anything about the daughter of Klay and Krystella, but their son was a completely different story

"What happens will happen." the male said as if it were no big deal

"Very well." the mouse-like female bowed her head in disappointment as she left the massage with the solder. She wanted to deliver it herself, but she had too much work to do. The plantation she worked and lived on was a major source of food for the village, and now that Rose Dust was missing, there was even more work to be done.

Dispite what he said, the solder rushed out later that night with a backpack filled with whatever he thought he may need. He truly was going to wait until the next day, but he could not sleep after hearing the news.


	5. Chapter 5

So I changed this chapter. The first version wasn't nearly as good.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chaotic

The solder would have normally needed four days for the castle to come into sight, but as he traveled, he began to worry about his village. What if this was the start of an epidemic? Who would be the next to disappear? What was happening to the victim, assuming there was still only one. Every second he was gone was another second for something to happen to his tribemates.

 _Maybe if I push myself just a little harder, I could make it there by daybreak._ he assured himself. He could rest once the message got to his rulers. He wasn't concerned about some helpless human, but the queen and king would want to know about it, that much was certain.

The solder felt weak, but he kept going, refusing to let himself stop. He slowed down for a minute to catch his breath. Unable to run any longer, he stumbled a few feet before falling to the ground. The normally four-day journey had only taken three days. This was a new record for him, but this was no time to celebrate. He was not there yet, but he could not keep his eyes from closing. When he opened them, the sun was high in the sky.

Fortunately, some guards had seen him from the Ancestral Wall had rushed to help. There was a maid sitting in a chair next to his bed to keep on she on him until he was awake. After drinking a glass of water, he told the maid his story. His message was immediately sent to the King of the Overworld.

The maid bowed to her ruler as she told him her story. She was not happy with the look on his face, but she couldn't help but admire his long, thick, shiny black fur. His long, straight hair was the same shade of red as Intress's, but he had Maxxor's white streaks and eye color. He wore a red loin cloth and a tee shirt.

The leader of the Overworld didn't care if the victim was human or creature; she was an Overworlder, and therefore she was under his protection. But there was no way to know if this was true, and it would not be wise to send guards in to find her if she and her case were not real. But a solder would not have gone through all the trouble of bringing that news to him from such a distance, and it was unlikely that someone would want a joke to go to such an extreme. Making false charges was a serious crime, with serious consequences.

He got up from his throne and began to out of the room. "Go back to that room and have that guard wait for me." the ruler ordered "I have to talk with some of my advisors. What did the guard say the human's name was?"

"Rose Dust." the maid said casually, not knowing who the girl's parents were.

But her leader froze for a moment. It was a secret amongst the higher-ups that she was the daughter of Klay and Krystella. This new leader of the Overworld knew that her parents used to make deals with Van Bloot, and it seem like quite a coincidence that she would be randomly taken by him.

"Is something wrong, Ronink?" the maid asked as she courtesied for her ruler

"Do as you were told." he said with worry in his voice. The maid caught on to it and ran back to the guard while Ronink ran to his private chambers. He was planning on going straight to his study to write a message, but an argument caught his attention.

"You knew that when you married me!" Tom was arguing with Aivenna again. Aivenna tried to say something, but he cut her off before she could finish the first word. "You could have listened to the rest of the Overworld, but no, you had to have me! And now you have me and I have been putting up with you for almost a week, but nothing I do is good enough for you! You have been complaining for days Aivenna! You used to be so cheerful! I don't even know who you are anymore!"

They were behind closed doors, but Ronink had to know what his adopted sister and her mate were arguing about. It was not often that their debates got so heated. So he cracked the door open ever so slightly.

"We have been married for thirteen sola-"

"Stop talking!" Tom grabbed his hair as if he was going to pull it out of his head "Just stop talking!"

Her mate was tearing up. She had never seen his do this to her before. Aivenna knew she had gone to far this time, but the words had already been said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't even bother apologizing." Tom told her as he walked to the double doors. Ronink silently ran to his study, but he was still listening to their conversation. "I don't ever want to speak to you again!"

Aivenna's heart sink as she watched her mate walk out the doors. She cried as soon as he slammed them. He didn't know she was crying. If he had, he would have turned around and took it all back. He didn't mean that he didn't want to talk with her again, Tom just wanted her to stop arguing with him.

Ronink sighed, but he went to his desk to write a message. He wanted to comfort his older sister, but he had to focus on this first. Van Bloot was dangerous and had to be captured before he could bring out the worst in Rose Dust. He was completely focused on writing this message to one of the generals. But just as he finshed...

"Hi, little brother!" a cheerful, feminine voice made him jump in suprise.

He looked up to see two of his sisters. Other than not having the white fur around their mouths, they both had the same fur as their mother, but their hair was black. They had the same green eyes and wore matching blue dresses. The only difference between them was that one of them had a long tail and a wide smile. The other had neither.

"Do you want to deliver that?" the one who wasn't smiling asked in an emotionless tone

"Take it to the barracks." he said as he handed it to them. They ran off without another word.

 _Why did I have to be the only male in a litter of five?_ Ronink thought as he buried his face in his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Chaotic

Those three days didn't go well for the daughter of Klay and Krystella. She woke up the morning after being kidnapped thinking it had just been a bad dream. She laid there for a minute to let it all sink in. But then she felt the dirt underneath her and realized she was not in her bed. Her eyes opened and she sat up, panic rushing through her viens. Her head was already throbbing, but she had to get out of where she was.

She looked to her left. Just a wall, but the cave was too dark for a human to see it. She looked to her right. There was a light, and that probably meant a way out. She ran towards it as though her life depended on it.

Her heart sunk as Van Bloot landed in the entrance. As he smiled sinisterly at her, her eyes widened and teared up. Van Bloot _loved_ that terrified look on her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with his hands on his hips

"Home." she said sadly "Please, I have nothing to offer you. Let me leave. You won't get any leverage out of a human."

"Maybe not, but I can certainly get a nice meal out of one." he said as took a few steps towards her. She wanted so badly to run away from him, but her legs were still frozen from the fear. He circled around her as he continued. "But you're too pretty for a meal." she went from scared to disgusted, but he ignored it and gently grabbed her chin. He liked having at least one hand on her "I can't have my cake and eat it too."

She smacked his hand away. "Forget it!" she said as she put her fists behind her back and bent over slightly in shat he assumed was supposed to be an intimidating pose. "I may be a prisoner," she straightened herself up and folded her arms "but I am **not** here for your entertainment."

Her cheeks turned slightly red as she finished her sentence. Van Bloot stared into her eyes for a moment, but she felt as though he was staring into her soul. She turned her head away from his gaze, cheeks turning more red from the anger and the discomfort of their conversation.

"You're brave to deny a creature of something he wants." Van Bloot said quietly yet threateningly

"Brave?" she asked as she rolled her eyes "Yeah right! I'm just stubborn."

Van Bloot raised a brow at what she said. Why would she deny a compliment and try to replace it with an insult, even if there was a possibility that she was telling the truth?

"You don't think very highly of yourself." Van Bloot assumed

"Why should I?" she asked angrily and looked at the ground "I'm a human living in the world of Perim. What good am I for when compared to a creature?"

"So the town's people haven't been treating you nicely?" Van Bloot didn't really care, but he wanted to see how far she would go for the sake of revenge.

"Nice enough, I guess."

Van Bloot was not happy with a neutral answer. He grabbed her chin again. She looked him in the eyes. He could see sorrow, and he wanted to manipulate it. "Who was the meanest to you?"

"I guess the girls I live with." she didn't sound certain of it, but that answer would work

"Then we'll start with them."

Her eyes widened again. Van Bloot grinned at her reaction and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tried to fight against him, but even with her struggling, it didn't take any effort for the winged creature to force her out of the cave.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Back home." Von Bloot said as though he was teasing her "Isn't that where you wanted to go?"

 _Yeah, but not with you!_ she thought.

She had enough sense to not say it. Instead she just reminded him, "I can still walk."

"Hold my hand." he said as he let go of her

"Excuse me?" she asked as he kept walking "Why would you want me to do that? I'm not going to run off."

"You already tried to once." he reminded her and came to a stop. He turned slightly and reached a hand out towards her, palm up. "I'm giving you the opportunity to walk. Isn't that what you wanted?" She hesitated. Van Bloot stayed calm, but he didn't like how she was acting. "You'd best do as I say before I break your legs."

She gave in to his demands. She didn't look at him even once as he lead her back to the plantation he took her from the night before. It was a long, quiet walk, but like all things, it finally came to an end. She had never been more upset about seeing her home; she knew Van Bloot was up to something.

"What are you going to do to them?" she asked with fear in her voice

"Why are so worried about them?" Van Bloot was disgusted with her soft heart, but if she was still concerned about people who had bullied her, then her loyalty could deffinately prove useful to him.

"We've lived together so long, I guess I got attched." she didn't realise until now just how important those creatures were to her.

"Were they ever nice to you?" Van Bloot started with the good times. He had learned this trick a while ago. Van Bloot would start with making her remember the good times, then he would remind her of how much the bad times outweighed the good.

"They shared their leftovers with me a few times." she couldn't think of any other happy times with them

"Food that was going to be thrown out anyways?" Van Bloot wasn't going to have a hard time pulling her strings at all "That was all they did for you? Did you do anything to earn it?"

"I helped them with their choirs." she said sadly "I was so hungry." her stomach growled to remind her that she hadn't eaten breakfast or dinner.

"They're all working, aren't they?" Van Bloot knew that they probably would be this time of day

"Yeah." she didn't know why he wanted to know. She wasn't as concerned for her former co-workers as she was a few seconds ago, but she didn't want Van Bloot to kill them.

"Let's go get something to eat." he said as he opened the door for her. At this point she knew better than to disobey him."We'll talk about what to do with them while we're having breakfast." as he closed the door, he told her "I'm going to teach you how to torture people."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Chaotic

They were back where they started; the pond. One of the creatures was doing Rose's work for her. Van Bloot and Rose Dust were hiding behind the trees, watching from a distance.

"You remember the plan, don't you?"

"Every gruesome detail." the human didn't bother trying to hide the fact that she was not happy with what they were about to do, but she knew that doing some of this herself was better than letting Van Bloot have his run with them.

"You never told me your name." Van Bloot reminded her

"Rose Dust." she didn't bother trying to hide it "But everybody calls me 'Dust'".

"Dust is just another word for dirt." Van Bloot tried to flirt with her "A fragile little beauty like yourself should be called 'Rose'."

Rose Dust felt like she was going to throw up, but what happened next didn't help any.

"Is someone there?" the young female in the pond asked as she turned around. Rose Dust didn't want to do it, but she ran to the creature, who mistook what was happening. "Dust, you're alr-"

The female creature was tackled by the human she used to live with. She was now under the water. The female creature tried to get up, but Van Bloot quickly made sure that didn't happen. Rose Dust wanted to take her hands off the female, but Van Bloot's hands over-lapped her own. She looked away as the creature under the water struggled hopelessly. When she could no longer hear the bubbles, Rose Dust knew that the other female was dead.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Van Bloot said casually

But it wasn't a casual thing for Rose Dust. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Her nose stuffed up. Their plan wasn't over. Van Bloot wanted to see her finish off the others, but he was trying to teach her, not torture her.

"Let's put off the rest for another day." he said as he scooped her into his arms "The first time is always difficult."

She didn't bother trying to fight him; she knew Van Bloot was not going to kill her quickly. She would have taken an instant death at the first chance she got, but that was not an option. He carried her back to the cave, not concerned with hiding the body. He wanted to scare the other creatures, and they would probably take it as a sign that Rose Dust was dead as well. Now no one would come looking for her!

Sure, the villagers might be a little upset about the plantation losing a worker, but if things hadn't changed much over the years, it was unlikely that an entire search party would risk their lives over one of them. They weren't considered important enough for that, even in the Overworld.

Van Bloot would give his Rose some time to come to terms with what happened, then bring her back for more. He would make sure to take out all of them next time, and by the time the villagers found out about it, he and Rose Dust would be long gone.


	8. Chapter 8

So, who's ready to see Klay and Krystella? I think this chapter really shows just how selfish and evil they are. You'll see what I mean.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chaotic

When Van Bloot came back from hunting for dinner, he wasn't surprised to find Rose Dust trying to run away again. What did suprise him was a that she was heading away from her home. Either she knew he would go there looking for her, or she was up to something more than that. He landed on a walkway a bit higher up the mountain. From up there, all he had to do was take a few steps back and she wouldn't be able to see him. It was the perfect place to watch her from. He dropped the carcass of a large, deerlike animal on the ground. He could sniff it out later, but for now the human was proving to be amusing.

She eventually made her way to a river, which was surprisingly clean considering what the M'errilians had done to the Overworlder. It made Van Bloot wonder how far he was into the future, but he knew he must have traveled a bit for Klay and Krystella's daughter to be an adult. How far would it be before he saw them? Were they even alive? Knowing them, they probably got the death sentence by now.

Rose Dust stopped for a moment. She crossed her arms. Judging by the look on her face, she was in deep thought. Van Bloot assumed she was thinking about the consequences of running away from him, even though he could only see half of her face. Her face changed to that of surprised fear. Van Bloot backed up before she could see him. He considered taring her apart, but the moan she gave in desperation turned him on.

Van Bloot waited a few seconds then went back to where he could see her from. She had continued walking away from the plantation. She started running. Van Bloot continued to watch her as she continued. There was a split in the river. There was a forest on either side of the middle split. It went three ways, so Van Bloot was sure she would just run beside it.

To his surprise, she soon saw a bridge and stopped. She clung to a rope which was clearly meant for that reason. She was so slow, Van Bloot's impatience made him almost fly down and grab her, but he wanted to know what she was doing. She was clearly terrified, but she didn't let that completely stop her. A few times he could hear the old wood breaking under her feet. She gasped every time. He would have to train her to not be such a wimp, even if it meant beating it out of her.

Now that she was on the other side of that river, she made her way back to the split. Van Bloot flew to the trees. Rose Dust heard the noise. Her breathing got heavy and she started to shake in fear.

"It was just an animal." she told herself "Just an animal in the trees."

She kept walking. The plantation was too far from the cave for Van Bloot to not catch up with her, and if she had gone there he would have known where to look. She hoped she was making the right decision; surely the woman who gave birth to her and the man who had spawned her would hide her for a while.

She hadn't seen them in years. She hadn't been entirely sure where to find them until she had seen the split in the river. She had not been this high up into the mountains since the day they abandoned her, but she was sure that they must have missed her. They were her parents; they had to- it was part of nature!

Van Bloot's interest in her motives increased as she started skipping happily, but the innocence of it sickened him.

A cabin in the woods was not something he was expecting. The evil creature thought about taking her away before she could knock on the door, but her screaming would catch the attention of whoever lived there. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't up for a fight. And making Rose Dust watch as he tore someone's guts out would be a good way to start her punishment.

She softly knocked on the door. Even with his well-developed ears, Van Bloot could hardly hear it. But he did hear a familiar voice.

"Is someone there!?"

Van Bloot knew who that was.

"Y-yes." Rose Dust answered

"Well go away!" a more feminine voice yelled at her "We don't like uninvited guests!"

"I-it's me. Rose Dust."

"Not you!" both voices screamed in unison.

Van Bloot narrowed his eyes in anger. It was no wonder this girl was so pathetic; if those two had raised her, she would have been as evil as them. With that body and her adorable voice, she could have been so manipulative.

"But I need you!" she whined "I'm in big trouble and I have nowhere else to go!"

"What makes you think we'll help you?" Krystella asked loudly and with a hint of sarcasm

"Because you're my parents."

Klay and Krystella laughed at her. Rose Dust sunk down to her knees and cried. Her own parents were to busy to help her in her time of disparate need. She rested her forehead against their front door and continued to weep. How was one supposed to react to that? She was heartbroken, and to an extent, she blamed herself for not being good enough for them.

Van Bloot was now bent on training her to be exactly what he wanted. She was vulnerable and unappreciated. If he could just get her to start trusting him, it wouldn't take long at all for her to become completely dependant on him. She would do everything he said and never turn on him.

"Please!" she whined "You're the only family I have."

As if that actually touched their hearts, Krystella opened the door. Klay was right behind her. He had put on a few pounds and his hair was almost completely white. Krystella had aged more in the face than her husband had, but she only had a single streak of grey in her now shoulder-length hair.

"It's been so long." Krystella said.

Van Bloot could tell by her voice that she was up to something, but Rose Dust was too naive to suspect anything from her birth mother. The young human rose to her feet and embraced her mother. Krystella returned the hug, but Van Bloot snarled at the evil grin on her face.

"How have you been?" Klay asked as he walked out of the cabin

"Good enough." Rose Dust said as she passed the hug down to her father "Until yesterday."

"What kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?" Krystella asked as she started walking

"It wasn't entirely my fault." Rose Dust started to explain, turning her attention to Krystella

"Of course it wasn't." Klay assured her as he started to follow his wife "You're our daughter. I knew it was only a matter of time before you learned how to pin the blame onto others."

"So, that makes you proud?" Rose Dust smiled as she started to walk with them. She really felt like she was bonding with them.

"Not yet." Krystella said.

"Just tell me how to prove myself to you guys, and I'll do it." Rose Dust told them before remembering why she was trying to find them in the first place. "But I need you guys to hide me for a while."

"You have changed." Klay said "Maybe you're more like your brother than we thought you would be."

"Why is everything always about my brother?" Rose Dust was clearly irritated, but she soon changed her tone of voice "How is he anyway?"

"Last I heard, Lilac was going to Kiru City to learn more about battlegear." Krystella told her as she started walking closer to the water.

"He used to visit me from time to time." Rose Dust reminded them "Last time I saw him, he told about how he wanted to visit Kiru. I didn't think he would be gone this long."

"How's that plantation we dropped you off at?" Klay asked her. He was on one side of his daughter and Krystella was on the other. Van Bloot didn't trust that.

"Not too good." Rose Dust admitted "We had a little mishap yesterday. That's kind of why I'm here." She looked at her hands and continued "I can't go back."

"Surely sweet little you didn't hurt somebody." Krystella came to a stop. Van Bloot knew it was not out of mere suprise.

"I didn't have any choice." Rose Dust tried to think of a way to explain it to them with making herself sound crazy

"If it was just self-defense, I'm sure they'll take you back." Klay stopped walking and put a hand on her shoulder.

"How much do you know about Lord Van Bloot?" Rose Dust closed her eyes as she asked that question. She didn't want to see the looks on their faces.

They didn't know whether to be scared or to laugh at her.

"Why do you want to know?" Krystella asked "Did someone say something to you?"

"Van Bloot disappeared before Chaotic started glitching, so I thought you might know something about him."

"And why are you so interested in him?" Klay asked with obvious anger in his voice

"All I know is that he used to be an Underworlder before he sided with the M'errilians and tried to go back in time." she lied

"And you don't know how he learned about the Threshold?" Krystella asked

"I heard he used to have humans working for him, but I don't know their names."

Van Bloot grinned at her reaction to their questions. Rose Dust knew nothing about the trouble those two had caused, especially how her parents used to make deals with him. That reminded him of the how their last deal with him had ending. Those two seemed to be doing fine, but he was still an unwanted criminal and not the ruler of the world like they had promised. He just knew they were going to hurt her somehow, and when they did he would take some of his anger out on them. Not only would it be a delight, but Rose Dust would think he was coming to her rescue, completely unaware of his true intentions.

"What do you think of those humans?" Krystella wanted to know if Rose Dust had become any more evil over the years, but she was not going to flat out ask it

"I don't know what they were thinking. Van Bloot is so dangerous. Who would be selfish enough to help him take over the world just for the sake of some game?"

"Have you learned how to swim?" Klay asked as he grabbed one of her arms with both hands

"No. Why?" Dust was now starting to fear them

"We think it's time you learned." Krystella said as she grabbed Rose's other arm.

"No, please, you're my parents!" Rose Dust tried to reason with them as they lifted her off the ground.

"Not anymore." Krystella practically sang it as they threw Rose Dust into the river.

Van Bloot could hear her splashing around as she began to panic. Now he understood why she had ignored him back at the pond; she had been more afraid of the water then she had of him. Klay and Krystella stopped laughing as Van Bloot roared and jumped out of the forrest as if he was pouncing on them. The two ran, but Van Bloot didn't chace them right away.

Krystella looked back to see if the creature was catching up to them. She stopped running when she saw that he was in the water, rescuing the girl she had given birth to. She now wished he hadn't thrown Dust into the water, but seeing Van Bloot nuzzle her as soon as they were out of the river made Krystella take a few steps back before remembering that was trying to run away from the creature.

"Are you alright?" Van Bloot didn't really care about her- he just didn't like it when anybody messed with something that was his

"I'll never be alright again." Rose Dust said. The lack of emotion in her voice filled Van Bloot with rage.

The creature looked up at the direction the two humans had ran off in, but they were gone. Had it not been for Rose Dust starting to shake from being wet and cold, he would have tracked them down, but there would be plenty of time for that once he got his female dried off and warmed up before she could get sick.

 _This little human is making me go soft!_ he realized as he scooped her up into his arms. He would have to beat her when he got back to the cave to remind both of them who was in charge.

But by the time he got her back the their temporary home, he was more concerned with just enjoying her. She had a hard enough day, and since he had come to her rescue, maybe it would be best to try to convince her that he was her friend, and that the world was her enemy. He would start with her parents and move on to her former co-workers. By that time she would enjoy being evil. After all, she had Klay and Krystella's blood running through her veins. She just needed a helping hand to guide her down the path of evil.

He placed Rose Dust on the ground. Without saying a word, she walked to the back of the cave and laid down, using her backpack as a pillow. Her machete was stuck in the wall, but it was too high up for her to reach it.

"You've had a hard day." Van Bloot tried to strike up a conversation with her

"Yeah." she was quiet and sad

"I bet you really hate them after that." Van Bloot tried to bring out any darkness that was within her

"I think I need a little time for all of this to sink in." she said politely

"Suit yourself." he said with a shrug "But don't go anywhere this time."

"I won't."

Van Bloot didn't expect her to stay put, but he flew off to get the dinner he had hunted. When he came back, she was still laying in that same stop, staring at the wall. Van Bloot made a fire and started to roast the animal.

"What's that?" she asked, not bothering to look at it

"Meat." Van Bloot didn't really know what kind of animal it was, and he didn't care either.

"It smells good." she said "I suppose I'm next?"

"Only if you try to run off again." Van Bloot said as though it was a joke. When she didn't respond, he wanted to make her say something. "So how do you want to get back at them?"

Rose Dust knew he was talking about Klay and Krystella. "First I want to burn their house down." she didn't mean it, but it was a fun fantasy.

"That sounds like a difficulty for a human." Van Bloot reminded her "You can't just make a flame orb like I can."

Something clicked in her mind when he said that. She didn't want to hurt them yet, but burning down their house may not be such a bad idea. After all, why should they get to sleep in a warm cabin where they could feel safe when she was stuck in a cave with a murderer? They were supposed to be her parents- they were supposed to care about her. Maybe once they had a few nights in the cold, possibly with a killer watching them, ready to strike at any minute, they would start to understand how she felt.

"You've already come to my rescue once." she reminded him "What do I have to do to get you to back me up?"


End file.
